WEEK NINE–Dream of hiking the Arizona Trail. (Sept. 6–12, 2015)

Goal: Hike The Arizona Trail.  It is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people.   (From:  http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.html).

 Anyone interested in hiking the first section of the trail with me??? 

Previous post.  

Still working on the sketches for my Southwest Note Cards.  Found some more photos to use as models for the rest of the cards, but my printer ink is almost gone so I didn’t get good printouts.  Need to get to a bigger town with bigger stores and buy more ink or find a place to print out the photos to look at while I draw.  Here they are:

		Sample of the rest of the set. VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

These are not the sketches, only the photos of what I will be sketching.

Training Days  Fifty-six through sixty-two (9/6-12, 2015,  Sun.- Sat):

What have I accomplished in the four main components of preparing for this challenge?

1) Get fit, food wise.  Candy bar with nuts, sub sandwich, Sprit, two popsicles, and 20pc McNuggets.  Bad bad bad.  I can do better.

2) Get fit, fitness wise.   July 24th I swam 1/2 mile in an hour.  This week I swam 1 mile on three days, times 1h 23 min, 1h 20min and 1h 15min.  Getting better minute by minute.  One day I kayaked the lake, all the way around it.  Not sure how far that is but was on the water about 3 hrs., got legs a little bit sunburned.  Then I took a mile hike up to an old coal mining town site.  Kool.

Saw a great bald eagle, a big vulture, and a smaller bird, maybe a Grebe.

Day 56 (Sun).  I pretty much just rested.  Ate badly.

Day 57 (Mon).  Swam 1 mile in 1 hour and 23 minutes.  It was hard to breath.  Made me very hungry.

Day 58 (Tue).  Kayaked around the lake and then took a hike of coal-mining town.  Nice day.  Felt great.  Ate right.

Day 59 (Weds).  Swam 1 mile in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Legs sore that night.

Day 60 (Thurs).  No excuses.  Did nothing.

Day 61 (Fri.).  Swam 1 mile in 1 hour and 15 min., breaking my record.  Legs are feeling slimmer but a little sore.  I like it.  Was bad the rest of the day.  20 pc Chicken nuggets, and a coke and a popsicle.

Day 62 (Sat).  A friend arrived in town last night and we drove up on the mountain to camp last night.  Air is so good.  I fixed breakfast for the two of us and ate before weighing in.  Ughhhhh.  Next week must be better in the way I eat.

Life is good but I am getting itchy feet.  Payday is 9/16 and last day at pool is 9/25… then I head to Arizona… slowly.

3) Learn how to ward off biting bugs.   SAME. There just are not many bugs here!!!  I’m keeping a notebook of ideas for future reference.  OK, I take that back, I saw misquotes trying to get in my van this morning.  They failed.

4) Get the equipment I need.  SAME.  Joined the Facebook Arizona Trail group and began asking about electronics and equipment.  Several people are making recommendations and posting lists.  I am going to ask for copies of their spreadsheets and begin adapting my list.  What equipment I do have is in Arizona, so I can’t begin weighing things until I get there.

Weight?   Last week: 224 pounds       This week:  228 pounds    Weekly Loss/Gain = +4.     Total Loss/Gain (since July 13) = -12 pounds.   Alright I messed up this week.  Weighed myself after eating breakfast and drinking coffee and with my clothes on… so this might not be real accurate. Keep in mind, loosing weight is only a by-product of getting fit, not the goal.  I CAN DO THIS, I think!!!!

Please click on the blue bar at the top to “Join this site” and follow me.  You will get a e-mail notice when there is a new blog post.  Thank you.

My eagle.

It is really lovely here but they tell winter is a bear with lots of wind and snow and black ice.  I won’t be in Raton, NM during the winter.

Also, I am creating a set of notecards of southwestern images to sell in order to raise money for equipment or to help pay back my friends.  Please have a look at what they may look like.  I hope to have them finished and ready to mail out by Thanksgiving.  You can reserve your set of note cards now by sending a PayPal donation of $25 to charlene.swankie@gmail.com.  Note Cards will be sent out before Dec. 1, 2015, or delivered to you are the Winter RTR Rendezvous, your choice.  Only these advance sale cards will have my original signature.  Card sets will be available online afterward this advance sale but will have printed signature.

Sample Southwest Notecards

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Thank you for doing your usual Amazon shopping using my affiliate link.

Help me a little if you can by donating to my equipment fund for the hike.  I promise to pay it forward.  There is a PayPal donation button in the top right corner, but I realize people using phone may not see that so I am repeating the button below.

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Contribute to Equipment for the Trail Hike or for the Note Cards:

 

WEEK EIGHT–The DREAM won’t die. I WILL hike the Arizona Trail. (Aug. 30–Sept. 5, 2015)

MY MOTTO – It doesn’t get any better than this, until tomorrow!

Goal: Hike The Arizona Trail.  It is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people.   (From:  http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.html).

My “second thoughts” are fading, and I realize while swimming almost 100 lengths of the pool and thinking of the hike almost the whole time, that it is a dream I should not let go of..  and I may skip the section by the Mexican Border and begin at the 2nd section.  OR, I may just get brave and do it anyway.  Anyone interested in hiking the first section of the trail with me??? 

Previous post.  

This week I began working on the sketches for my Southwest Note Cards.  Here are the first 3 sketches.  I may re-do the turtle one.

 

Training Days Forty-nine to Fifty-five (8/30-9/5, 2015,  Sun.- Sat):

What have I accomplished in the four main components of preparing for this challenge?

BETTER news. Being off the meds meant to help me deal with depression, has worked.  I am no longer depressed… I think!!!! 

1) Get fit, food wise.  I had ice cream once and it made me sick.  I had one soda.  This is getting easier but I still get huge sweet cravings.

2) Get fit, fitness wise.   July 24th I swam 1/2 mile in an hour.  This week I swam 1.5 miles in an hour and 40 min.  Great progress.

Day 49 (Sun).  I pretty much just rested.  In spite of planning to change this up… and do something on Sundays, walk or do a strength training routine, I lack the motivation.

Day 50 (Mon).   Woke with Plantar Fasciitis again… so will just chill and stretch.

Day 51 (Tue).  The Plantar Fasciitis is still bad, but I swam anyway.  Swimming made it better.  Broke my record and swam 1.25 miles in 1 hr and 30 min.  Last Weds I swam only 1 mile in the same amount of time.  Got real hungry.  Ate Ice Cream.  My bad.

Day 52 (Weds).  Have the runs from eating the ice cream… moved to a sunny spot and just did genealogy all the live long day.

Day 53 (Thurs).  Overslept today in spite of my determination and so did more genealogy.

Day 54 (Fri.).  Found the motivation and swam 1.5 miles in 1 hour and 40 min., breaking my record.  It has been decades since I swam that distance.  No pain, no cramps.  Legs are feeling slimmer.  I like it. 

Day 55 (Sat).  Drove out to one of my best boondocking spots, outside the gate to Ted Turner’s ranch/park.  Began working on the notecard sketches.

Life is good.  I am getting itchy feet though.  Payday is 9/16 and last day at pool is 9/25… then I head to Arizona… slowly.

3) Learn how to ward off biting bugs.   SAME. There just are not many bugs here!!!  I’m keeping a notebook of ideas for future reference.

4) Get the equipment I need.  Joined the Facebook Arizona Trail group and began asking about electronics and equipment.  Several people are making recommendations and posting lists.  I am going to ask for copies of their spreadsheets and begin adapting my list.  What equipment I do have is in Arizona, so I can’t begin weighing things until I get there.

Weight?   Last week: 227 pounds       This week:  224 pounds    Weekly Loss/Gain = -3.     Total Loss/Gain (since July 13) = -16 pounds.   Keep in mind, loosing weight is only a by-product of getting fit, not the goal.  I am one pound less than I planned to be by this weekend… so I am on track.  I CAN DO THIS!!!!

Please click on the blue bar at the top to “Join this site” and follow me.  You will get a e-mail notice when there is a new blog post.  Thank you.

While camped up on the mountain, I spotted this little guy.

Also, I am creating a set of notecards of southwestern images to sell in order to raise money for equipment or to help pay back my friends.  Please have a look at what they may look like.  I hope to have them finished and ready to mail out by Thanksgiving.  You can reserve your set of note cards now by sending a PayPal donation of $25 to charlene.swankie@gmail.com.  Note Cards will be sent out before Dec. 1, 2015, or delivered to you are the Winter RTR Rendezvous, your choice.  Only these advance sale cards will have my original signature.  Card sets will be available online afterward this advance sale but will have printed signature.

Sample Southwest Notecards

---

Thank you for doing your usual Amazon shopping using my affiliate link.

Help me a little if you can by donating to my equipment fund for the hike.  I promise to pay it forward.  There is a PayPal donation button in the top right corner, but I realize people using phone may not see that so I am repeating the button below.

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Contribute to Equipment for the Trail Hike or for the Note Cards:

 

WEEK SEVEN–Still want to hike the Arizona National Scenic Trail (Aug. 23-29th, 2015)

NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!

Goal: Hike The Arizona Trail.  It is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people.   (From:  http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.html).

I have been very excited about the idea of doing this as a solo hike, but after studying the book on the trail, and coming to understand more fully just how big a challenge this would be, I am having second thoughts BUT a possible solution would be to skip the section by the Mexican Border and begin at the 2nd section.  Still thinking about it.  Anyone interested in hiking the first section of the trail with me??? 

Previous post.  

My sunset last night (Sat. 8/29/15) from atop a mountain above Raton.  It has just stormed a little with wet sloshy hail, and then this wonderful view.

Training Days Forty-two to Forty-eight (8/23-29, 2015,  Sun.- Sat):

What have I accomplished in the four main components of preparing for this challenge?

BETTER news.  I’m getting past the depression and am off the meds that were suppose to be helping me.  My energy level is improving.  Sometimes  medication has the wrong effect.

1) Get fit, food wise.  I did much better this week with sodas and coffee popsicles, because I spent time in the wilderness away from the temptations of fast foods and grocery stores.  I have felt hungry a lot, odd for me as I am usually loaded up with carbs and sugars,  but I worked on accepting these feelings as a good sign.  Monday I had a small coke and some snack crackers.  That’s the only bad thing I ate all week.  It seems my body is going through some major metabolic changes.

2) Get fit, fitness wise.  

Day 42 (Sun).  I pretty much just rested.  I planned to change this up… and do something on Sundays, walk or do a strength training routine, but I did nothing but escape into genealogy research.

Day 43 (Mon).   Overslept this morning.  Ate the bad snacks.  Still lurking too much in the family tree but have about decided there is no solution to the broken branch I have been trying to fix.

Day 44 (Tue). Feeling very lazy today… and gave in to it.   Pout!!!  Just blew 3 whole days without any exercise.  Pout!!!   I hate myself.

Day 45 (Weds). GREAT news.  Today, I swam a mile in 1 hour and 30 min, using a kick board to strengthen my legs, which increased my time.  I was very proud of myself and felt highly motivated, until the next morning?

Day 46 (Thurs). Feeling depressed and needing to get out of town.  My joints hurt from swimming and I have not been taking Ibuprofen this week.  Drove up the road that goes behind Goat Hill (the hill with the flag on it), and found a place to park.  Feels good to be in the wild again and be able to hear crickets, birds, and the wind.  Lightening off in the distance.  I have missed being in nature.

Day 47 (Fri.).  Found the motivation to drive back to the pool this morning, and swam 1 mile in 1 hour and 20 min., 10 min less than Weds.  Used a kickboard for part of that and my legs are feeling stronger.  Drove right back up the hill after without going to town.  It’s 2.7 miles to my parking spot. 

Day 48 (Sat).  Have enjoyed just being in nature.  Walking the area a bit.  Got out my bag of gym items, weights, bands, etc. and am working out a strength-training routine to do beside the van.  No one has bothered me in this location and I seem to have the world to myself.  Most of the time I have good wifi signal as well.

Still having trouble in the mornings,  I wake up, plan to go swim, go back to bed and just sleep… enjoying the fresh cool air here.  OMG, it is so relaxing.  I am feeling more refreshed and less depressed and I believe when that medication finally gets out of my system, I will feel even better.

That first segment of the AZ Trail worries me because of the way it is written up in the book re: illegal immigrants coming across the border.  I am now considering skipping that part of the trail, unless I get someone to hike that segment with me.  I now plan to begin at the 2nd segment of the trail.

3) Learn how to ward off biting bugs.   SAME. There just are not many bugs here!!!  I’m keeping a notebook of ideas for future reference.

4) Get the equipment I need.  SAME.  Backpack donated.  No other progress made on equipment needs this week.  I have not yet made a list.

DEPRESSING news.  Budget still stinks, but I have managed to partially pay back some of the friends who helped me out this summer.  It has really strapped me financially and the only solution I see is NOT to go onto LTVA when I get to Quartzsite.  I am just not going to have $180 to pay for that up front.  Besides, if I begin to hike the AZ Trail in the spring, I won’t be on LTVA all the way to the end of the season.  The alternative is not too appealing either, as I will have to move around every two weeks, which  means I will not have the comfort of setting up my permanent camp.  But all that is doable.  I can pay $40 for two weeks in LTVA, and the go camp on free land for 2 weeks, and repeat.  So cost will be $10 average a week for camping.  That I can manage regardless of how annoying it will be to have to move every two weeks.

Weight?   Last week: 225 pounds       This week:  227 pounds    Weekly Loss/Gain = +2.  UGH!   Total Loss/Gain (since July 13) = -13 pounds.   Keep in mind, loosing weight is only a by-product of getting fit, not the goal.  And although weight loss is not the goal, it makes me feel disappointed in myself that I gained this week.

Please click on the blue bar at the top to “Join this site” and follow me.  You will get a e-mail notice when there is a new blog post.  Thank you.

Working on the sketches now instead of getting lost in my genealogy research.

Also, I am creating a set of notecards of southwestern images to sell in order to raise money for equipment or to help pay back my friends.  Please have a look at what they may look like.  I hope to have them finished and ready to mail out by Thanksgiving.  You can reserve your set of note cards now by sending a PayPal donation of $25 to charlene.swankie@gmail.com.  Note Cards will be sent out before Dec. 1, 2015, or delivered to you are the Winter RTR Rendezvous.

Sample Southwest Notecards

---

Thank you for doing your usual Amazon shopping using my affiliate link.

Help me a little if you can by donating to my equipment fund for the hike.  I promise to pay it forward.  There is a PayPal donation button in the top right corner, but I realize people using phone may not see that so I am repeating the button below.

---

Contribute to Equipment for the Trail Hike or for the Note Cards:

 

WEEK SIX–Rethinking the Hike of the Arizona National Scenic Trail (Aug. 16-22, 2015)

Goal: Hike The Arizona Trail.  It is an 800+ mile recreation trail from Mexico to Utah that connects mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, forests, wilderness areas, historic sites, trail systems, points of interest, communities, and people.   (From:  http://www.aztrail.org/at_about.html).

I have been very excited about the idea of doing this as a solo hike, but after studying the book on the trail, and coming to understand more fully just how big a challenge this would be, I am having second thoughts.

Previous post.  

Darn, I have not even taken any photos this week.  Here’s an old one, just west of town.

Training Days Thirty-five to Forty-one (8/16-22, 2015,  Sun.- Sat):

What have I accomplished in the four main components of preparing for this challenge?

DEPRESSING news.  I’ve accomplished very little, that’s what.  Still suffering from depression and being back on meds has not helped me even though I am back up to full strength this week.  Still depressed, in fact I think I am worse.  I am too relaxed and too lazy.  I’m not use to such a mood… and am usually always high energy.  I am cutting the pills in half and will see if my  mood improves over this coming week, and if it does, I am weaning myself off this medication.

Darn, how I love those popsicles.  They are too good.

1) Get fit, food wise.  I did WORSE this week with sodas and coffee popsicles, and still guess what????   I lost weight????  In fact, some of that junk made me really sick, adding to my depression.

That is part of what made me begin to re-evaluate my goal of hiking the trail.  If I can not even control my daily habits in order to get in shape, how the heck will I manage my health in the wild?

2) Get fit, fitness wise.  

Day 35 (Sun).  I pretty much just rested.  I planned to change this up… and do something on Sundays, walk or do a strength training routine, but I did nothing but escape into genealogy research.  And I ate 1 sm pack of cookies and 3 popsicles.  Geez.  What is wrong with me?

Day 36 (Mon).   Still lurking in the family tree and have gotten tangled up in it.  Had a chicken sandwich and a coke and it made me ill.  Later I had a healthy omelet.  But no exercise????  WTF?

Day 37 (Tue). GREAT news.  Today, I swam a mile in 1 hour and 14 min, six minutes less than six days ago.  I was very proud of myself and felt highly motivated, until the next morning?

Day 38-41 (Weds-Sat).  Where did my mojo go???   I lost it someplace since Tuesday when I swam that mile in record time.  Each morning I wake up, plan to go swim, go back to bed and just sleep… enjoying the fresh cool air here.  OMG, it is so relaxing.  But it’s depressing that I can’t fight it off and stick to my guns.  That’s when I began to question my sanity.  Also reading about the first segment of the AZ Trail where it is highly recommended you hike with a partner, due to the illegals coming across the border at that point.  And that segment is also one of the more strenuous parts of the trail. I have begun feeling like it is more than I can do logistically and physically.  I have not given up totally on the dream, but I am having second thoughts.  It’s good to listen to that still small voice inside.  All I did the rest of the week was genealogy, until Ancestry.com when down yesterday, Fri. Aug. 21. (secretly that is a good thing for me).

Back to the pool next week to swim with the whales.

More GREAT news.  My lungs are 100% back to normal… and that I am very happy about.  Part of the reason I am so relaxed is because breathing is so easy now.

3) Learn how to ward off biting bugs.   SAME. There just are not many bugs here!!!  I’m keeping a notebook of ideas for future reference.

My whole rear end looked like that last summer in the southeastern states, and I ended up in the ER.  Pine Itch Mites that crawled out of a box of pine needles I collected, up the back of my chair and onto my naked butt…. it was hot and I was doing email with fans blowing on me… and the buggers got me.  I can’t do that again.

4) Get the equipment I need.  Backpack donated.  No other progress made on equipment needs this week.  I have not yet made a list.

DEPRESSING news.  This summer when I was so sick from bug bites, had all four of my tires fail within a couple weeks, and was stuck in the southeast, a lot of people pitched in to help me out financially.  Now it’s time to repay them, in fact I should have already done so… and it’s adding to my depression that I am still so broke.  Out of my August paycheck, my auto ins, my auto tabs, and my fees for camping in LTVA in Quartzsite will have to come along with my phone/internet bill, and regular other bills.  There is just not enough $ to do all that, which only adds to my depression.  I’m making it a new policy not to accept any more loans from people.  I’m bad about keeping track of all that.  But I am reviewing all my notes and trying to do right about all my friends.

GREATEST news.  On a positive note:

Weight?   Last week: 232 pounds       This week:  225 pounds    Weekly Loss/Gain = -7, more than I expected, for sure.   Total Loss/Gain (since July 13) = -15 pounds.  WOW!   Keep in mind, loosing weight is only a by-product of getting fit, not the goal.

Forgive me for not having a more positive post, but at least give me credit for having an honest post.  Thank you.

Please click on the blue bar at the top to “Join this site” and follow me.  You will get a e-mail notice when there is a new blog post.  Thank you.

Also, I am creating a set of notecards of southwestern images to sell in order to raise money for equipment or to help pay back my friends.  Please have a look at what they may look like.  I hope to have them finished and ready to mail out by Thanksgiving.  You can reserve your set of note cards now by sending a PayPal donation of $25 to charlene.swankie@gmail.com.  Note Cards will be sent out before Dec. 1, 2015, or delivered to you are the Winter RTR Rendezvous.

Sample Southwest Notecards

---

Thank you for doing your usual Amazon shopping using my affiliate link.

Help me a little if you can by donating to my equipment fund for the hike.  I promise to pay it forward.  There is a PayPal donation button in the top right corner, but I realize people using phone may not see that so I am repeating the button below.

---

Contribute to Equipment for the Trail Hike or for the Note Cards: